ANIMAL HUSBANDRY AND AGRICULTURAL DAYS 2022

Field Crop Production Directorate is currently utilising and cultivating about 5,300 hectares of arable land and 1,000 hectares of grassland. Nearly 80% of the arable land area is meliorated, and about 1,600 ha can be irrigated under valid water right permits. About 1,800 ha of our arable land area is a meadow chernozem with a high percentage of humus that is rich in microelements and has good water retention and drainage properties. Lying closer to River Tisza, an area of about 2,700 ha is a dense alluvial and meadow soil that is difficult to cultivate. An arable land area of 800 ha lies nearby the Kardoskút steppe managed by the Körös-Maros National Park; most of this area is an alkaline, solonchak-type meadow soil with highly saline patches and with generally poor soil productivity.

Precipitation levels vary widely. Years with poor precipitation are not uncommon. In such years, annual precipitation can be less than 400 mm while the number of days when the temperature rises above 30°C can be over 30. However, precipitation can be abundant in some years with annual precipitation reaching 900 or even 1,000 mm (an example being the year 2010 with 875 mm of precipitation). In such years, producers can expect to suffer severe losses on account of many areas becoming waterlogged. In fact, periods characterised by heavy precipitation may be followed by months of draught within the same calendar year.

The company continuously modernises and maintains its network of drainage and dual use canals.

A key task of our arable crop production division is to produce quality forage and fodder for our own livestock. To feed our high-yield dairy cows and our heifers, we need to have 15 to 20 thousand tons of high-quality maize silage and eight thousand tons of alfalfa, rye, mixed feeds, and improved forage grass haylage in store annually. We improve the mass feed diet of our livestock by adding our own brand name Hódmix fodder mixes. Combining mass feeds and mixes of our own development in this fashion ensures that our dairy cows are in excellent health and guarantees milk yields of around 10 thousand litres.

As a general rule, 30 to 35% of our total arable land area is dedicated to the production of animal feed crops. About 15% of the area is used for the cultivation of one of our oil crops, sunflower. We also produce significant amounts of bread grains generally in about 15 to 20% or our total arable land area.

The area used for the production of our seeds (hybrid maize and cereals) varies between 15 to 25% of the total area in function of market demand. Smaller percentages of our arable land area are used for the production of soybean, pea, bean, and sugar beet.